Hooters ad in Oceanside's magazine riles councilwoman

After this spring, the full-page Hooters restaurant
advertisement in the Oceanside Magazine will no longer feature the
signature buxom waitresses, Councilwoman Esther Sanchez said
Tuesday.

Sanchez said she is making a stand against the popular
restaurant's advertisements, saying they are too offensive for the
city's quarterly magazine, which often serves as a course catalogue
for children and teens who want to sign up for camps and
classes.

"Basically, Hooters will retain an ad (in the magazine), but I
don't think they are going to include bosoms," Sanchez said. "The
idea is to retain the family nature of the city magazine."

Sanchez said she complained about the ads to the magazine's
editor, Michelle Skaggs Lawrence, after hearing complaints from
residents, including a local Girl Scout troop leader.

Lawrence, who also heads the city's Parks and Recreation
Department, has agreed to keep the waitresses out of the
advertisements, Sanchez said.

Lawrence could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The magazine is published by the city of Oceanside. City manager
Steve Jepsen said the city does not have a protocol for restricting
advertisements, but that he reserves the right to insist on changes
if the community complains. He referred all questions to
Lawrence.

Hooters is a nationwide chain of restaurants famous for
waitresses wearing form-fitting, low-cut white tank tops and tight
orange shorts.

The waitresses serve as the cover girls for all Hooters
advertisements, said Fred Glick, who opened his Hooters restaurant
franchise on Vista Way just east of El Camino Real in Oceanside
last year.

The most recent advertisement in the magazine features a large
photograph of a voluptuous brunette posing with a plate of hot
wings and a smaller group photo of five waitresses, all posing with
sports equipment to highlight the restaurant as a sports
entertainment venue.

Glick said he has been advertising in Oceanside Magazine, the
North County Times, and The San Diego Union-Tribune since his
restaurant opened. Hooters pays $1,326 for a full-page color ad in
the city's magazine. The money helps underwrite and pay for
distribution of the free publication. North County Times
advertising employees are contracted by the city to sell and
produce the advertisements.

"I don't think we are advertising anything different than
McDonald's, Burger King, and Carl's Jr.," Glick said. "I've seen
ads everywhere that use beautiful women to promote their
product."

North County Times Publisher Dick High said he does not find
Hooters advertisements featuring the trademark waitresses
offensive.

"In terms of the fleshiness of the ad, it's no different than
other ads in mainstream media," he said, adding that lingerie
advertisements for major department stores show just as much
skin.

High said it is the city, not the newspaper that sets the policy
on the magazine's advertising. "We'll do whatever they want," he
said.

Glick said he understands that some people might not be happy
with Hooters in general. Nationally, the chain has fought for its
right to exist amidst protests from parents and politicians upset
over the restaurant's name -- widely known as a derogatory name for
a woman's breasts -- and its tight-fitting uniforms.

"The sex appeal is part of our concept. We don't try to hide
that," Glick said.

Meanwhile, Sanchez said that just the mere mention of the
restaurant's name in Oceanside Magazine is "bad enough."

" 'Hooters' is slang for what we are talking about," she said.
"Personally, I don't see what place it has in a family magazine. I
really don't think it's proper."

Sanchez said she also has concerns that the ad promotes
unhealthy body images to teenage girls.

"I worry that young women would aspire to have a certain
physique (or) breast implants," she said. "We are not here to set
standards for what young women aspire to be."

The magazine's spring issue with the latest Hooters ad was
mailed to 65,500 homes and businesses in the city. An additional
20,000 have been distributed to Camp Pendleton, local hotels and
motels, the city's Visitors Center, city libraries and recreation
centers, and other points of interest.

Hooters will still be invited to place advertisements in the
magazine, but starting with the summer edition, the ads won't
feature photographs of waitresses, according to Sanchez.

Glick said he would like to invite Sanchez to work with the
restaurant's creative team to create an advertisement that suits
her.

"If Esther has an issue, she can pick up the phone and call me,"
he said. "Esther wants to be the champion for the people. She
should call me and not the newspaper. We'd be happy to talk with
her."